Improving Quality in the Music Classroom

Sean McGinley
Teaching from the Podium
Dr. Zerull

One of the most daunting aspects of entering a new school as a music teacher is what the

program at that school will be like. On top of that, are the students motivated to do well, or has

their music-making experience been very passive in the past? A principal may hire a new band or

orchestra teacher in the hopes of turning the music program around and providing a real musical

education to the students involved. If asked by the principal what my course of action would be

to turn around the program I would say teaching students good fundamentals with their playing

and understanding of music, having parents be critical in the music-making process, and making

sure students see how far they have improved since beginning good playing habits and provide

opportunities to show them how far they can go if they continue.

I firmly believe that fundamentals are the key to creating a well-rounded music program

with well-rounded individual musicians within the ensemble. Over two days I observed the band

programs Basset High School and Field-dale Collinsville Middle School, two of the strongest

band programs in the state of Virginia. What struck me as impressive was their strong focus on

fundamentals as an ensemble. While most directors see fundamentals are being just a warm-up to

band class, the directors at Basset and Field-Dale Collinsville see fundamentals as the most

important part of the band class with the most teaching happening then. Instead of playing a few

minutes of fundamentals passively, the ensembles did fundamental work for the majority of their

class time, and the directors asked leading questions to get them to listen actively and make

thoughtful changes to their playing. Since they have built this importance on fundamentals from

day one the students do not bat an eye at doing fundamentals for 85% of their class time, because
to them it is just a normal part of the band experience. That is what I would do in my program for

beginning on day one and continuing in every class.

Going off of that, I also do not find time-based practice logs to be an accurate way to

ensure students are practicing. Even in my own personal practice, I prioritize effective practice

over time-based practice. If a musician practices effectively for two hours their growth over time

will be exponentially greater because they are actively thinking about what they are practicing,

why they are practicing it, and how the best way to practice would be. My goals and objectives

for students to reach would always be known by students, and for at-home practice I would send

students home with a weekly guidance sheet. It will follow the fundamentals we work on in

class, as well as any pieces being prepared and outline what students should think about as they

practice. I would assign two practice logs per week for students to turn in and would ask students

to write what they worked on, why they worked on it, what they noticed while they practiced,

and did it get better after practicing it and to explain how it got better or why it may not have

gotten better. I would also ask students to record the amount of time they spent practicing

because if students are practicing for an hour per day and showing no signs of improvement it

means that they are most likely not using their practice time effectively.

Another aspect of music-making that is often overlooked is parental involvement. This

can be tricky because every family is different in regards to their child and parent dynamic. In a

perfect world, I would model parental involvement after the Suzuki Method and have parents be

an at-home mentor for students while they practice and help students make progress at home. I

would want parents to be informed about what is happening in class and what students should

work on at home, similar to the weekly guidance sheet that I would send home with students.

That way if students are struggling or not sure if they are practicing correctly, they can ask their
parents for some ideas, because even non-musicians can have ideas of how to get past a musical

roadblock. Unfortunately, this plan would only be able to exist in an absolutely perfect world

where every student has time to practice at home, that the parents are present in the students’ life

and genuinely interested in their academic achievement, and that the students have an overall

good home life. Those things cannot be assumed. As a minimum, I would send emails to parents

and paper letters home with students with a brief summary of what we are doing in class, any

upcoming performances, and general words of encouragement to give to students as they develop

into higher-performing musicians. The paper letter would have to be signed and turned in at the

end of the week. The email is sent to ensure that it has reached the parents electronically because

relying on students to give a piece of paper to parents can sometimes be a mistake.

Lastly, I would create a positive learning and growing environment in my classroom by

making clear our accomplishments over the year. I think recordings of rehearsals and

performances is the clearest way to show improvement by listening to the first run-through of a

piece and the final performance. Students must know that their work is not for nothing and that

their hard work is paid off through a good performance and a pleased audience. I feel that

reminding students that they are doing well will highly influence their motivation to keep doing

better, but I would also show them examples of high-quality musicianship at the professional

level to show where music can take them. I would be wary of showing examples of musicians

playing incredibly virtuosic pieces because it may have an adverse effect and make students

discouraged that they will never reach that point. I would show professional soloists and

ensembles for various cultures and contexts playing beautiful and exciting pieces of music to

show that with hard work and dedication anyone can reach that point.
 It is clear that I have high expectations for students in my classroom, and I want each one

to do well and find something that they enjoy about music. Teaching them how to be good

musicians very much translates into being well-rounded people in the real world. The dedication

to focus and practice well is applicable to any job one might hold in the future and will get that

person far in life. I hope that these steps that I have detailed will drive students to be their best

and help them realize that they have the tools to be great, it is up to them if they want to be great.